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Purse Thrower Arrested

BERLIN – A Berlin woman was arrested on disorderly conduct and resisting arrest charges last week after a pair of incidents during which she threw her purse at a police car and later an ambulance.

Around 12:17 p.m. last Wednesday, Berlin police received several complaints about a female suspect throwing her purse at passing vehicles near the health department. One of the vehicles, a Life Star ambulance, was not damaged. When police arrived on the scene, they found a woman, later identified as Lisa M. Harris, 44, of Berlin, sitting on top of large trashcan and yelling profanities.

After police made several attempts to get Harris to stop being disorderly and get off the trashcan, she began to strike and punch a bus stop window next to the trashcan on which she was sitting. She was eventually removed from the trashcan and placed under arrest. Several days prior to the incident, Harris was cited for throwing her purse and hitting a police cruiser as it drove past her.

Harris was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. She was taken before a District Court Commissioner and ordered held on a $1,000 bond.

Hiding A Wanted Juvenile

OCEAN CITY – An Ocean City man was arrested on several charges this week including hindering a police investigation and obstruction of justice after allegedly attempting to hide a juvenile wanted by police.

Around 11 p.m. last Sunday, Maryland State Police troopers received a call about a repeat juvenile runaway under a court-ordered curfew for drug offenses. Troopers responded to the Bayshore Drive area in Ocean City and went to several residences where they believed the wanted juvenile might be located.

Troopers made contact with a man identified as Timothy Alexander Wilson, 20, of Ocean City, after receiving information the wanted juvenile was with him. According to police reports, Wilson attempted to deceive the investigation trooper and told the officer the juvenile was not with him.

Meanwhile, Worcester County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested another juvenile known to be an associate of the missing juvenile on multiple open warrants. During that investigation, officers learned the wanted juvenile was indeed with Wilson. Around 3:15 a.m., MSP troopers went back to Bayshore Drive and located and arrested Wilson, charging him with contributing to a child in need of assistance, hindering a police investigation and obstruction of justice.

The missing juvenile was located about a block away in a Laundromat hiding from police under a folding table. Charges are pending against the juvenile for violation of a court order.

Condo Burglary Cases

Forwarded to Circuit

OCEAN CITY – Three local men arrested on burglary charges in January after allegedly breaking into a north Ocean City condominium and attempting to steal thousands of dollars worth of high-end electronics had their cases forwarded to Circuit Court last week after preliminary hearings determined there was probable cause to move forward with the cases.

Thanks to a tip from an alert private citizen, three men were arrested on burglary charges after allegedly breaking into a north Ocean City residence and attempting to steal thousands of dollars worth of high-end electronics.

Around 9 a.m. on a Thursday in January, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) received a call from a private citizen about a possible breaking and entering in progress at a residence on Peach Tree Rd. The caller told police it appeared three white males were attempting to break into a house across the canal from his own residence, likely on Peach Tree Rd. and provided a description of the suspects.

The caller told police he observed two of the suspects lift a third suspect into the house through the ceiling on a screened porch and that the three were then in the residence. OCPD officers responded to the area and positioned themselves in place to observe the residence and any suspects in the area fitting the description provided by the witness.

One OCPD officer observed the three suspects fleeing the house and running out toward Peach Tree Rd. in different directions. An OCPD officer with the help of a K-9 was able to apprehend the first suspect, identified as James Anthony Haynes, 24, of Willards. The same officer was then able to apprehend a second suspect, identified as Stephen Marcus Brinson, 28, of Parsonsburg. A third suspect, Frank Allen Dowling, 24, of Pittsville, was apprehended a short time later as he walked on Constitutional Ave. nearby.

The witness was brought over and identified the three suspects as the men he observed breaking into the residence on Peach Tree St. The witness told police he observed the three suspects walk around to a screened-in porch area at the back of the house. Two of the men then lifted the third to the ceiling of the porch, and the suspect was able to separate the vinyl ceiling to gain access to the attic crawl space above the porch.

Two of the suspects then walked around to the side door of the residence with duffel bags and the suspect who had gained entry let them in. The OCPD officer then went around to the back of the residence and observed the hole in the ceiling where the suspect had gained entry to the residence. The officer noticed the rear porch door standing open, and when he went inside, he noticed dirt and debris on the dining room table and floor. The officer also noticed the attic access door directly overhead.

Further inspection revealed Haynes had gained access to the house through the crawl space and was able to gain access to the rest of the house by simply pushing the ladder hatch to the attic down. Haynes then went around to the door to let in Brinson and Dowling. At that point, the three suspects proceeded to dismantle a 52-inch Insignia flat screen television and set it on the floor nearby.

The officers also noticed a 20-inch Magnavox flat screen television sitting on the coffee table with its cord wrapped around its base. The officers observed a Dell computer printer unplugged and sitting on a couch. In addition, a closet door was standing open with a stereo system sitting on the floor next to it. Detectives also found a green duffel bag containing an X-box gaming system with various games and power cords. The duffel bag also contained 14” bolt cutters and a large crowbar. Detectives were able to connect the three suspects to the duffel bag and a knapsack found in the room through various pieces of identification.

The value of the items the suspects attempted to steal is estimated at around $2,000. Haynes, Dowling and Brinson were each charged with first-degree burglary, third- and fourth-degree burglary, theft under $10,000, and malicious destruction of property. In addition, Brinson was charged with possession of CDS.

Each of the three appeared in District Court last week and probable cause was found in each case to forward them to the Circuit Court level.

Probation, Fine For Crack Dealer

OCEAN CITY – One of two Frankford, Del. residents arrested last November on drug charges after Ocean City Police narcotics detectives purchased crack cocaine from them out of a vehicle which also included a two-year-old child pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine last week in Circuit Court and was placed on probation and fined.

Around 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, 2009, the OCPD’s Narcotics Unit officers, with the assistance of patrol personnel, made a traffic stop on a vehicle containing suspected drug dealers. Earlier in the day, the driver of the vehicle, identified as Shanice Eriz Chandler, 24, of Frankford, sold suspected crack cocaine to an undercover OCPD detective.

Another suspect, identified as Sheronda Renee Jennings, 38, also of Frankford, was riding in the passenger seat. Also discovered in the suspect vehicle was the young toddler. Chandler and Jennings were taken into custody without incident and each was charged with possession and distribution of crack cocaine and marijuana.

A family member of Jennings responded to the scene to take custody of Jennings’ 2-year-old child. Last week in Circuit Court, Chandler pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine and was placed on probation for 18 months and was fined $500, about $200 of which was then suspended. Meanwhile, Jennings is expected to appear in court next week.

2007 Shoplifting Spree Conviction

SNOW HILL – One of three men arrested in 2007 by U.S. Marshal’s in Montgomery County after an alert witness identified he and his cohorts, who were wanted in connection with a vast shoplifting spree in the resort and other areas around the state, at a West Ocean City pharmacy pleaded guilty last week in Circuit Court to felony theft and was placed on probation, but the real penalty was thousands of dollars of restitution owed the various victims.

In May 2007, just days after a reported shoplifting spree at the CVS pharmacy on 120th Street in Ocean City, an alert citizen who saw the suspects’ pictures on a television news broadcast recognized them at the CVS in West Ocean City and alerted resort police, which touched off an investigation that led to their arrests.

The three suspects in the initial shoplifting spree at the Ocean City CVS on April 28 were arrested after a tip from an alert citizen who saw the trio apparently up to their old tricks at a different CVS in West Ocean City. The OCPD released information to the public through the media on April 28, 2007 about the initial shoplifting case including pictures of the suspects grabbed from the store’s surveillance cameras.

Later that day, a citizen was in her car in the parking lot at the West Ocean City CVS when she saw what she described as suspicious activity with people going in and out of the store. The witness wrote down the vehicle’s tag number and held on to it. A few days later, the witness saw a report about the Ocean City case on television news and reported the tag number and the suspicious activity at the West Ocean City CVS she had seen days earlier.

OCPD Det. James Rodriguez took the tag number and was able to get the names of the registered owners. He then accessed the photographs of the owners and discovered they matched two of the suspects in the Ocean City shoplifting case. Two of the suspects were Larry Fitch, 30, and Gawanda Hungerford, both of Columbia, Md.

After further investigation, the OCPD detective discovered Hungerford had posted bail for another man in Cambridge several months earlier. When the detective saw the photograph of that man, Darrius Marcus, 58, of Silver Spring, Md. he recognized him as the third suspect in the CVS shoplifting spree.

OCPD detectives then contacted the U.S. Marshal’s Capitol Area Regional Fugitive Task Force regarding Fitch. When they arrested Fitch at his home, Marcus was with him. There was also a third man present, Kevin Debose, 44, of Washington, D.C., whom detectives recognized as the fourth suspect in the shoplifting case. Fitch, Marcus and Debose were all taken into custody on other warrants obtained by the task force.

Fitch was charged with two counts of felony theft and felony theft scheme for the April 28 case at CVS in Ocean City as well as another case the prior year in which he was a suspect. Debose and Marcus were each charged with one count of felony theft.

Last week in Circuit Court, Fitch pleaded guilty to felony theft under $500 and was placed on probation for 18 months. Perhaps more importantly, Fitch was ordered to pay over $15,000 in restitution to the various victims including CVS, the store’s insurance company and Worcester County. Back in 2007, Marcus was found guilty of theft under $500 and was sentenced to one year in jail and placed on two years probation, which ended in August. Debose was found guilty of theft under $500 and was sentenced to six months in jail.

Probation, Fine For

West OC Break-Ins

SNOW HILL – A Berlin man arrested in April on burglary charges after breaking into a West Ocean City convenience store and doughnut shop pleaded guilty this week to theft scheme over $500 and was fined and placed on probation for three years.

On April 22, two men later identified as Shane William Lewis, 25, of Berlin, and the late Eric Steven Parkinson, 20, of Delmar, allegedly broke into the Marlin Market and Fractured Prune stores on Route 611 in West Ocean City and stole the cash register from the Fractured Prune. A review of surveillance tapes in the stores helped police identify Lewis and Parkinson as the suspects.

Both were arrested later in the day on April 22 and were both charged with two counts each of second-degree burglary, fourth-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit second-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit fourth-degree burglary, theft over $500, conspiracy to commit theft over $500 and malicious destruction of property.

This week in District Court, Lewis pleaded guilty to felony theft scheme over $500 and was fined $200 and placed on probation for three years.

Two of Seven Arrested

In Drug Raid Fined

OCEAN CITY – Two of the seven suspects arrested during a drug raid on a downtown Ocean City apartment complex in December appeared in court this week and were convicted on similar charges with similar outcomes.

A total of seven individuals including one juvenile were arrested during a drug sweep at a downtown Ocean City apartment complex in the early morning hours on December 12. Around 6:20 a.m., the Ocean City Police narcotics unit, along with patrol officers, served search and seizure warrants on two units in the Jocelyn Manor Apartments on 8th Street. During a search of the first unit, OCPD officers located marijuana and paraphernalia and took two people into custody. Arrested were Terri Sullivan-Glynis, 47, and Robert Craig Scheeler, 48, both of Ocean City.

While searching another unit, OCPD narcotics officers found more marijuana and paraphernalia and took a total of five more suspects into custody. Arrested during the second search were Nicholas Steven Douglas, 19; Jason Mark Hager, 24; Patrick Michael Simpson, 24, Ashley Marie Reynolds, 20, and a 17-year-old juvenile, all of Ocean City.

All were charged with possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia. This week in District Court, Scheeler pleaded guilty to possession and was fined $1,000. In a separate trial, Sullivan-Glynis also pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana and was fined $1,000. Meanwhile, Douglas and Reynolds failed to appear for trial and had arrest warrants sworn out on them. Simpson has since had the charges against him dropped, while Hager is set to appear for trial on May 17.